


Onwards, Together

by eostella



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Oh look I finally indulged in writing Kakamei, This is the only rarepair that I ship lol, slightly canon divergent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2017-11-24
Packaged: 2019-02-06 07:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12812391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eostella/pseuds/eostella
Summary: A year after the war, Kakashi is faced with a familiar situation. This time, however, he was more unwilling than before when it came to accepting the highest rank the Leaf could ever bestow him.





	Onwards, Together

“You have to admit; it makes perfect sense,” she said, swivelling her chair to look the man that stood by the window of her office. From her place on her chair, the Mizukage could feel the growing tension within the man. She need not peek under his mask to know that he was frowning very deeply, even though his usual indifferent eyes were in place.

Kakashi glanced briefly towards her, but then looked out to the window once more. “It doesn’t.”

Sighing, Mei crossed her arms and stood to walk towards the brooding man. She had noticed his grip on the window sill was tightened so that his knuckles were becoming paler than they usually were. “Don’t you remember what Obito said—“

“I remember,” he replied tersely. “And I don’t need you to remind me what I said afterwards. It was a bit of a reflexive answer, one that was bridled with emotion and not enough logic. Hardly any logic, if at all.”

“Kakashi—“

“No, Mei,” he cut her off brusquely once more before he felt her twist his ear. Kakashi batted her hand away and poised to move away from his wife but the heel of her boot gently rested on top of his foot, ready to dig into his flesh. The Konoha jounin knew from past experience that it was a threat she was willing to follow through if he was being particularly difficult.

Mei smiled warmly — far too warmly that he knew he would be in hot water if his stroppy attitude continued — and crossed her arms once more. “I really would appreciate it if you stop cutting me off like a spoiled brat, anata. You rarely cast your manners away and when you do, it really makes me want to melt you.”

He felt his cheeks heat up as Kakashi realised how childish his behaviour was ever since Mei had him called into her office. “Sorry,” he mumbled, letting out a small sigh of relief when the Mizukage retracted her foot.

A nimble hand waved dismissively before the kage turned to look out the window as well, face pensive. Kakashi watched her carefully, almost seeing the gears turn inside her mind. Somehow, he knew that whatever she had to say next, he wouldn’t like. “Accept it. It would be the only _mission_ the Leaf has entrusted to you that you would refuse but it is the most important one.”

“I don’t like this _mission_ ,” he said, face souring at the choice of words.

Bright green eyes flared. “It’s not a matter of whether you like it or not, Kakashi. It simply must be done. Besides, you accepted this mission of arranged marriage even if you didn’t like it, for the sake of your village.”

“That’s different. And this mission eventually turned out well,” he reasoned with conviction.

Mei struggled to keep away the flutters that threatened to rock her stomach as he said the words. It was true that they repulsed the idea of being in an arranged marriage at the start but a lot has happened in the past year and somehow, they were committed to each other in every sense of the word that _marriage_ entailed.

The redheaded kage turned to look at her husband and cocked her head to the side. “Well, then. Given your line of reasoning, what makes you say with absolute certainty that this _mission_ wouldn’t end greatly, as well?”

Hatake Kakashi was a known strategist, possessing an intelligence that could nearly rival a Nara clan member. His tactical genius was known all throughout the elemental nations and considered almost as legendary as his combat skills as a shinobi.

Nevertheless, he had no answer to the question his wife has posed.

A sly grin coloured the godaime Mizukage’s face as she spun on her heel to sit back down on her chair. “I’ll let Tsunade-sama know of your answer.”

His mouth opened but he couldn’t muster up a retort. Kakashi felt helpless in the situation but he wasn’t exactly giving up just yet. “Wait, Mei…let me…let me think it through some more.”

The female Hatake didn’t look up from her desk as she procured a blank scroll and brush to write her old friend a reply. Mei dipped her brush in ink and began to write. “Tsunade-sama was gracious enough to give you a month’s worth of thinking time, Kakashi. She is expecting a reply in two days. It would not do well to disappoint her. She might think I’m forbidding you to accept. While I am sure that she won’t go to war because of that, it just doesn’t sit well with me.”

“It’s scary how you can mimic my handwriting so well,” he muttered with a sigh. Kakashi was beginning to resign to his fate when he remembered something important…something very, very important. “What of us, Mei?”

The one, short question was enough for the Mizukage to pause for a few moments before she returned to her writing. “I’m coming with you.”

“W-What?” he sputtered, certainly not expecting that answer. “You can’t rule over Kiri while being in Konoha.”

“I know. I am simply relinquishing my duties to Chojuro,” she said, finishing the scroll with flourish. Mei stood once more and reclaimed her spot in front of her husband. “Don’t think that you’re the only one doing some thinking since Tsunade-sama sent that scroll.”

Kakashi closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. “You can’t possibly decide to end your reign just because I apparently need to start mine. You don’t have to throw your life away for me, Mei.”

The woman in question pursed her lips into a thin line. “I am not throwing my life away, Kakashi. I’m simply making another decision to get on with it. Chojuro has been trained long enough; he is more than ready and more than capable to take over. Besides, I am not going to sit idly by when you become Hokage. I plan on taking ambassadorial duties between Kiri and Konoha, just as the Kazekage’s sister does between Suna and Konoha.”

Kakashi’s eyes became hooded and his gaze fell to the side when he heard her words. Somehow, Mei ceasing to be the Mizukage was an idea that he wasn’t expecting to come across so very soon. He shifted his weight from one foot to another, as he found no loophole regarding the vision she had for their future.

Mei let out a small sigh and took her husband’s hand in between her palms, squeezing affectionately. “Also, you shouldn’t be speaking against throwing one’s life away when it was the exact same thing you did when you insisted to come here instead of me going to Konoha. Don’t you think I realised that? The Leaf placed you to fulfil a mission whose duration was indefinite, and for almost a year, you were unable to partake in any shinobi duties since you, again, insisted that it would only inconvenience the Mist if they find themselves suddenly without a Kage. It's such a strange irony that the Leaf found it fitting to honour your suggestion as sort of a compromise when it's the Leaf who will be without one of their legendary ninja.”

Kakashi merely shrugged at that.

“To have Tsunade-sama request you back even though this marriage was crucial to solidify Kiri-Konoha relations just goes to show how desperate the Leaf is to have you back,” Mei said. “I’m guessing they have considered all other possible options and found themselves at a dead end when they couldn’t find a person more suitable for the title and responsibility than you. It was a bold move that the Leaf risked to ask you back, but luckily, I cannot deny the fervour of shinobi dedicated to the well-being of their village. You, included.”

His softened eyes turned to look at her and he squeezed her hand in return. “What’s that got to do with me?”

Honestly, she loved the man but sometimes he was too oblivious for someone whose perception skills were considered top notch. It took every inch of her power to restrain slugging the man in his jaw, even if it would really pain her to mar his beautiful face. Instead, Mei swallowed her annoyance and spoke. “Like I said, it didn’t seem to be trouble for you when your village tasked you to be married to me. That’s telling enough that you love your village extremely and would do anything to protect it. Yet, why are you not eager to accept the position?”

“I never wanted it.”

“And yet you agreed when you were first offered the title. What is the difference now?”

At that, Kakashi turned to the side without a word. He sincerely hoped that his blush wasn’t fierce to show beyond the confines of his mask. The Hokage-candidate felt her gaze on him intensify as the seconds passed.

When Mei realised the root of his hesitance, she was stunned. Her mouth hung agape as tears threatened to pool in her eyes. The Mizukage took a few breaths to calm herself before she stepped forward and engulfed her husband in an embrace. Mei buried her face into his flak jacket to hide the wide grin that threatened to split her lips.

“You don’t have to worry about that now; I already told you I’m coming with you, didn’t I?” she asked softly. “You are something else, Hatake Kakashi.”

When she had first realised that she was to be wed to the last Hatake, Mei grieved for the demise of her freedom and her dream of being married to a man whom she loved. However, the last year has proven that Kakashi **_was_** the man of her dreams, as cliché as it may sound. She should have known that the pale skin and tousled hair of the hypothetical man that the Infinite Tsukuyomi crafted for her were her first clues.

“Is that good or bad?” he asked tentatively.

Mei looked up at him and then tugged his mask down before she went on her toes to press a long, gentle kiss on his now-bare lips. The Mizukage was the one who terminated their contact but she let the close proximity of their faces to linger for a while. “Does that answer your question?”

A cocky grin appeared upon his lips. “I don’t know; I’m afraid I’m going to need a repeat…”

The incumbent Mizukage could only roll her eyes before she indulged him with another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't ask me how this ship surfaced; I'm a victim, too! Anyways, this has been a plot bunny that has been lingering around my mind for so long and I have finally decided to write it. The Kakashi/Mei rarepair doesn't have a lot of followers but I think they make a pretty cute (not to mention badass) couple, so why not? Inter-village marriage seems to be a thing in the Naruto world, after all.
> 
> Also, please let me know what you think. Thank you!


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